Gas-engine.



R. S. MOORE & J. L. SIMMONS.

GAS ENGINE. APPLIouIoN rlLnn 11111.13, 1911.

Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

@LV1/kuma ZM/M @d Wm y R. S. MOORE 6L J. L. SIMMONS.

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAB..13, 1911.

Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

B.. S. MOORE & J. L. SIMMONS. GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED 111111.13. 1911.

1 ,004,457, Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

3 BHBETB--BEBBT 3.

UNITED STATE-s PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERTS. MOORE-AN D JAMES LEESIM-MONS, OF WASHINGTON, vIBISTRIZCI10E-COLUMBIA, ASSIGNORS TOGYROlMOTOBUCOMSPANY; -OIFVVf'ASHING'T'li',v DISTRICT OF-y COLUMBIA,

A CORPORATION or DELAWARE:

Specication-of Letters Patent:V

Patented sepa 2e, 1911.

Appncaten'aled March 13, 1911.. serial No'. 614,258.

l'o all'whom' imag/MMM:

Be it known that we,- Ronm S.,Mc' on1aV and JAMns LEE SIMMONS, citizens of thev United; Sta-tes,- residingat Washington, in

the District of Columbia,e have invented certain new'and useful Improvements in IGas- Engines, of which the following;` is a description, reference beinghad to' the=accom panying drawing and to the figures of reference marked thereon. I The invention relates te 'new and useful improvements in gas-engines, and 4more especially gas engines of the type wherein the cylinders rotate about a stationary crank shaft,although it is-obvious'- from certain aspects'that `the f invention is also adapted to be used in connection With-gas Aengines of other types.

.An object of the invention, is to provide a valve controlling'` mechanism 4for a rotary l cylinder gas engine wherein Vthe valve is located in the piston and is opened and closed -through the act-ion of centrifugal force on amember preferably supported 'by and `freely movable onv the iston rodr 'Afurther object of themvention is to provide a valve mechanism vof t-he abovel f character, with devices for counter-ba1ancing-l the Iweight of the valve, whereby the laction of' 'centrifugal force on thevalve is neutral.

. ized.

further object of theinvention is to providea gas engine either/of the rotating Y or non-rotating type, with a valve mecha= .nism furthe intake, wherein the valve is located vin. the f piston 'and' is lopened and closed by ar member supported-ion the piston rod, which member .is capable of 'yielding so '7 .theeynn expansionA ofi the'gases `in the fycylinder.

-Th'ese and" 4,other objects of' the invention, .will iin-part beobvious, and'fwfi'll in'pa'rt bei l spider-15. This controllinglever 1s formed hereinaftenmorefullydescribed;

vtion.ef-Ifigvure 1 is asectional view through]4 ersshowingm y rotary cylinder fga's enginewwith our invention applied thereto; v .Figi 2.is'an enlargedfsectionat viewthrough4 fthe --notch '21.incthe stem ofthe valve. .shoulder 424 is extehdedlaterally, so as to form a.'.wide-bearingy surface on the valve l`vstem; .The'controlling'leve'r 22 extends'to eachfside of-.the axisof the pivotal sup-f one of the cylinders,^showing our improved devices 1n slde vlew; F1?` 3 is a `sectional view on the l1ne3-3,fof i valve in side view; Eig. 6 is a detail showin l,the controllinglever in fplan-view. i

e have shown our'invention'as applied l to a multi le' cylinder engine, contaming seven cylm ers, which englneis formed with a crank shaft'- 1 carrying a crank arm' 2, to

g 2,5the operat? ing cam and controlling lever-beingshown in end view; Fi 4`is' asection on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3; 1g. 5 is a detail showingrthcwhich is connected 'pistonvrogis 3, operating in connection with each cylinder. Thecran shaft is preferably a stationary crankshaft,

and the casing 4 carrying the cylinders is rotated about said stationary crank shaft.

It .will beobvious, however, from certain aspects `of the invention, that thel casing 4f cylinderis provided 4with ay piston head 12, to which the piston rodB is pivotallyjcon nected through suitable journal connections.

of 'each piston head lis `Located centrall an o ening 13, which-is threaded toreceive a va ve seat `14. A .supportingspider 15is clamped between thelvalve. seat 14 and they 'ledge 16 onthe piston head..l The valvel'(4 tted to the valve-seat 14,--and carries a stem 18 which slides in a -sleeve 19 on the spider.15.- Thefspideris also formed with a sleeve 20 on its lower-face', which-isinzline .with the sleeve 18 on the 4upper faceyof the spider.l l The stem ofthe valve extends through the 'sleeves 18' and 20,`-and is formed with av 4lnotch21 at on'e side thereof; a controlling lever 22 is pivoted between ears 23y projecting downwardly from the'lower face of the y'with 'a projecting shoulder '21k-which enga es he port of the lever, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The Linder face of the lever is formed with a cam surface 26, which extends on each side of the axis of thepivotal support.

The left hand end 2T of the controlling lever, as viewed in Fig. 2, extends a sufficient distance from the axis of the controlling lever, so that the weight of the'parts of the lever on this side of the axis, would counterbalance the weight of the parts of the lever, the valve stem and the valve, which are centered on the other side of the axis of the lever. This counter-balancing of the valve by the controlling lever, prevents any dis turbance of tlie valve by the centrifugal force on the-valve resulting fi'om the rapid rotation of'the cylinders.

As a means for operating the. valve at the' propertime, we have provided a cam member 28, whichis pivoted at 29l between ears 30, carried by the piston rod 3. This cam is formed with an outwardly projecting part or shoulder 3l, which contacts with the cam face 26 on the under side o f the controlling lever 22.

It will be noted that the projecting part 3l engages the lever 22 adjacent its fulcrum, and as the piston reciprocates, the projecting part will shift from one. side of the fulcrum of the lever to the other, owing to the changing of the angular position of the piston rod, relative to the piston head. Inasmucli as this cam member 28 is freely pivoted on the piston rod, said member may move in a direction substantially radially of the cylinders through the action of centrifugal force on said member, as the cylinder rotates, and said member will therefore, be pressed against the lever` by centrifugal force and the valve/will be opened .and closed through the action of centrifugal force on thismovable member.

Whenthe projecting part is on the left- `of the fulcrum of the controlling lever as in Fig. 2, the centrifugal force will swing' the lever so as to close the valve. When however, the projecting part is moved 'to the right of the fulcrum of said lever, thecentrifugal force will operate to open the valve.

As above noted, the-controlling lever is'so proportioned as to counterbalance the weight ofthe valve, and neutralize the centrifugal force on' the valve. The centrifugal force acting on the cam member 28, as it is shifted from one side of the fulcrum of the lever to the other, will throw f the Vvalve and controlling lever out of balanceandwill either open or will close the valve, according to whether the .centrifugal 'force Aof the "cam member is on the one or theother side of the fulcrum'of the lever. f

A spring 32 is seatedin the. poclret in thel piston rod, and presses against the headed pin .33. The cam member 28 rests on the started.

headed pin. This spring however, is a very light spring, and plays lit-tle or no part in the controlling of the valve when theengine cylindersare rotating. lVhen the engineis at a stand-still, then there -will be no centrifugal force actin on the cam member 28. The spring at this time comes into play to hold the cam member in Contact withv the vcontrolling lever, and operates to open and close' the valve so that the engine may be In describing the operation ofvour device,

i the cylinder G in Fig. 1, may be considered as the second positionof'the` cylinder 5, as it rotates about the axis of the crank shaft.. The cylinder 7 may be considered the third position of the cylinder 5. Starting with the cylinder 5 in the pos'ition shown in Fig. 1, and assuming that the gases in the cylinder are -compressed and that" said cylinder is'at "the firing position.; the rotationof the cylinder 5 to the position of the cylinder G, will shift the projecting part on the cam 28l along the cam face 26 of the controlling lever 27, to the other side of the cont-rolling lever. .The action of centrifugalforce on the cam member 28, would now tend to throw open the intakelvalve, but inasmuch as the gases in the cylinder-are expanding, the force of the expanding vgases overcomes the action of the centrifugal force onthe member 28, which yields thereto, and allows the intake valve -to remain closed. As the expansion of 'the gases continues, the `y1`4 *haust valve isso controlled that during the last half rotation of the cvlinder, said valve is .opened andthe lburned gases-'are forcedfrom the cylinder by the outward Vmovement of the piston. On'the'second. r0-

'tationK of the cylinder, the projecting 'part `on `the `cam member 28 will'againslide to "the'other side of the fulcrum wof the controlling lever, and inasmuch as the cylinder is now free from-expanding gases, the in` take valve will be opened and allow a charge to pass intothe cylinder. Again, when the cylinder-has passed through an-arc of 180,

the projecting part on the cam member, will 1 shift tothe opposite side of the fulcrum of the controlling lever, and` close the valve.

It will thus be seen that we have provided means-wherein the centrifugal force acting' on afgmovable 'member freely. supported, byv4 thel piston-rod, isv'utilized to open and to.

close-the intake valve in proper timed re lation to they rotation of the cylinder. It

' 'will be further noted that if our improved valve mechanism is applied to a cylinder of the non-rotating type, that the spring supporting the cam member may be of suficicnt force as to hold thecam member in contact with the controlling 1lever,' and as the piston reciprocates, the4l change'in the angular position of the piston rod, relative to the piston will shift the projecting part v from 'one side of the fulcrumof the controlling lever to vthe other, so as to openlfand close the valve. This cam member 28 being -freely supported 'on the piston rod, may

yield when the. gases are expanding in the cylinder, so that the intake valve may be closed during one stroke of the piston, and therefore, our improved valve mechanism is especially adapted'for use in-a four-'cycle gas engineof any desiredtype.'

" It `is'obvious. that `*minor changes in the details of constructionEmay be made, without departing from the spirit of our inven- 1 tion asset forth in theappended claims'.

Vto said-piston, a mem er carrledb open and fclose said intake valve in proper` timed relation to therotation of said cylinder.

2; A gas engine including in combination,

a rotary cylinder, a piston, an intakevalve located in said piston, -a piston rod connected to said (piston, a member carried by said piston ro and free to move thereon through the action of centrifugal force, a lever fulcrumed'on the piston and connected to said intake valve, said member having a projecting part constructed and Adisposed so as to engage said lever adjacent the fulcrum thereof, and shift from one side of the flcrum to the other asthe piston rod changes its angular position relative to the4 y piston.

`3. A gas engine including in ccmbination,V a cylinder, a-piston, an 4intake valve located in4 said piston, 'a iston A rod connected to saidpi'ston, means or. operating said intake valve, sald vmeant lncludmg .a member carried byfthet piston rod'and capable offyieldl ing solas. toiallow the intakevalve to reagasee in.- the cylinder, and devices operated ,l

mainclosedy during? the expansion-of the by saidl member forv opening and closing said valve. Y

4. A gas engine including in combination, a cylinder, a piston, an intake valve located in said piston, a piston rod connected to said piston, means tor operating said intake valve, said means including a'member carried by the piston rod, a lever fulcrumed on the piston and connected to said valve,

said member having a projecting part constructed and disposed so as to engage said lever, adjacent the -fulcrum, and to shift from one side of the fulcrum to the other as the piston rodlchanges its angular pos- 4tion relative to the piston.

'5. A gas engine including in combination, a rotary cylinder, a piston, an intake valve located in said piston, a piston rod con nected to said piston, and devices for opening and closing said valve including an operating lever, and means for pivotally supporting said lever, the parts of said lever beingso disposed as to counterbalance the Weight of the valve, and means controlled by the connecting rod for operating said f pivoted lever.

6.l A gas engine including in combination a rotary cylinder, a piston, an intake valve located in said piston, a piston rod connect-l edtosaid piston, devices for openin and closing said'valve-including a pivoted ever, the' partsy of which are dlfsposed so asy to counterbalance the valve, and a cam member'carricdy by said piston rod, and free to movel thereon through the action of centrif'ugal force, said cam member havin a projecting part constructed and dispose -so as to engage Isaid lever adjacent the lful'crumv thereof, and shift from one side ofl the fulcrum to the other, as the piston rod changes lits angular position relative to the piston.

7. A gas engine including in combination, a rotary cylinder, a piston, a piston rod connected to said piston, an intake valve mounted in said piston, a controlling lever pivotedto said piston, a cam member carried by said piston rod, having 'a shoulder for engaging said controlling lever, said shoulder being disposed relative to thepivot of said lever, whereby as the cylinder rotates, said shoulder moves from one side of said pivot to the other, for openingl and for closing said intake valve, and means for yieldingly holding said cam in contact with said controlling lever.

8. A gas engine including in combination, a rotating casing, .a cylinder carried thereby, a stationary crank shaft, a piston, a'piston rod connecting said piston and said shaft, an intake valve mounted in said pis ton, a controlling lever for said intake valve,

said controlling lever havinga 'cam-shaped lower face, a cam carried bythe `piston rbd.

of the controlling lever, said shoulder being so disposed relative tothe'pivot of the controlling lever as to move from one-side of said pivot to the other for opening and for closing said valve.A

` 9. A gas engine including incombination, a rotating casing, a cylindercarried theref by, a stationary crank shaft, a piston, a piston rod connecting said piston and said crank shaft, an intakervalve mounted in said piston, a controlling lever for said intake valve, said controlling lever having a camshaped lower face, a cam carried by the piston rod having a shoulder engaging the cam-facev of thecontrolling lever, said shoulderbeing so disposed relative-tothe pivot of the controlling lever, as to move from one side of said pivot to the other, for lopening and for closing said valve, and. means for yieldingly holding said shoulder' against said lever. Y

10..,A gas engine including in combination, a rotating casing; a cylinder carried thereby, a stationarycrank shaft, a piston in said cylinder, a piston rod connecting said piston to said crank shaft, an intake valve mounted in said piston, a valvey stem connected to said valve, a controlling lever pivoted to said piston and having a positive engagement with said valve stem, said'controlling lever having` a cam-shaped under face, and a cam niemberjfreely movable on the piston rod and having a shoulder en-vgagin-g the cam face ofthe controlling lever.

1.1. A gas engine including in combination, a rotating casing, a cylinder carried thereby, a stationarycrank shaft, a piston 1n said cylinder, a piston rod connecting said piston to said crank shaft, airintake valve mounted in said piston, a valve stem yconnected to said valve, a controlling lever pivoted to said piston, and having a positive 'engagement With said valve stem, said controlling lever having av cam-shaped'lunl der face, a cam member freely movable on the piston rod and having a shouldeiengaging said cam face of the controlling member:' and means Afor yieldingly' holding said shoulder in'contact With thelcam face of the controlling lever.

12. A gas engineincluding yin combination,y a rotating casing, a cylinder carried thereby, a stationary crank shaft, a piston in said cylinder, a piston rod connecting said piston to saidl crank shaft, said piston hav- `ing an opening formed centrally thereof, a

spider mounted in said opening, a valve seat threadedv in said opening andengaging said spider, said spider having av central sleeve, a valve engaging said valve seat and having a stem sliding in said sleeve, a controlling lever pivotally supported .by said spider, and having a positive engagement With the stem of said valve, said controlling lever .having a cam-shaped under face, and an extension to counter-balance the Weight of the valve,

va cam member freely movable on the piston -a piston therein, an intake valve in the piston, a connecting rod pivotally joined to said piston, and means including a member positioned by the movement of the connecting rod and held in actuating position by centrifugal force for opening and closing said valve.

15. Ina. gas engine, a revolving cylinder, a piston therein, an intake valve in the pist0n, a fulcrumed member for counterbalancing saidvalve, and an operating member adapted to bear by centrifugal force against said fulcrumed member on alternate sidesof the fulcrum thereof for opening and closing the valve.

16. In a gas engine, a revolving cylinder, a piston therein, an intake valve in the piston, a connecting rod pivotally joined to said piston, a fulcrumed member for counterbalancing said valve, and an operating member carried by the connecting rod and adapted to bear by centrifugalforce against said fulcrumed member on alternate sides of the i fulcrum thereoffor opening and closing the valve.

17. In a gas engine, a cylinder, a piston l therein, an intake valve in the piston, a ful-4 ,crumed member connected with said valve "and an operating member adapted to bear ywith a yielding' force against said fulcrumed member on alternate sides of the fulcrum thereof for opening and closing the valve. v

18. In a lgas engine, a cylinder, a piston therein,.an intake valve in the piston, a connecting rod pivotallyr joined to said piston,

a fulcrumed member connected to said valve, andan operating member carried by the connecting rod and adapted to bear With a yielding force against said fulcrumed member on alternate sides of' the fulcrum thereof ,for opening and closing the'valve.

19. A gas engineincluding-in combination, a rotary cylinder, a,v valve, a memberv rotating .with said valve kand free to move through the action of centrifugal force, de-

vices intermediate themember and the valve, and means for positioning sald member relative to said intermediate devices, whereby tli'efcentrifugal force acting on the member inder.

- tion, a rota may. be utilized to open the Valve in proper timed relation to the rotation of the cyl'-4 20. A gas engine including in combinacylinder, a pistontherein, an intake valve 1n the piston, a member rotatin with the cylinder and free 4to move throug the action of centrifugal force,A devices intermediate themember and the intake valve, and means for positioning said member relative to the'intermediate devices, lwhereby the ROBERT S. MOORE. JAMES LEE` SIMMONS.

Witnesses:

E. G. MASON, E. H. PARKINS.

yCopies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

